


Unforgetting

by yodepalma



Series: One-Shots I Wish I Could Continue [4]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst and Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, One Shot, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-21 03:52:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4813931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yodepalma/pseuds/yodepalma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If he'd been looking for peace, he shouldn't have gone back to Twilight Town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unforgetting

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been sitting on my computer, incomplete, for so long I'm kind of ashamed of myself. Oh well. It hints at a much larger story, but by this point I have no idea where I was going when I started it. :(

_Unforgetting_

He sat slumped on the uncomfortable bench just outside of the Twilight Town train station, arms resting on his thighs and hands dangling between his knees. His thoughts drifted aimlessly between the life he’d just left and the cousins he hardly remembered but was about to start living with. He was eighteen now and could have lived on his own—but that would have required him to drop out of high school again and give up his chances of getting into college and leading a boring, successful life. So here he was, sitting in the blinding sunlight, waiting for a family he hadn’t seen since he was eight years old. The family that would take him home and take care of him like his own parents never would.

He sighed deeply and dug into the pockets of his black trenchcoat in search of his lighter and a pack of cigarettes. It was a disgusting habit, he knew, one that he’d picked up in his freshman year of high school and had never been able to break. The things he’d done for his hormones, trying to fit in and get laid all at once. Damn society, and damn the man that had once held his heart captive…until he’d broken it into itty bitty pieces and stomped it into the dirt. He leaned back as he lit up, eyes trained in never-ending fascination of the little flame he’d created, and was interrupted by the appearance of a quartet of blonds.

That would be the family, then. He wondered first if anyone was actually going to believe they were related, second if either of his cousins were as dangerous as they were obviously trying to look, and third if it was considered impolite if he continued smoking as he was reunited with them.

He needn’t have worried about the last part, because a sudden enthusiastic tackle from the boy sent the cigarette flying from between his fingers. He distantly remembered that such a tackle had been the standard greeting for them years ago, and patted the blond awkwardly on the back.

“You’ve got to be more energetic than that, Axel!” the slightly shorter boy pouted, punching his cousin playfully on the arm. “We haven’t seen each other in just about forever!”

“You ever think he grew out of being eight years old, dumbass?” the girl snapped before Axel had a chance to recover, giving her brother a hard shove. She’d always been a nasty piece of work, quick to insult just about everybody in her vicinity because she was the oldest of the three by a whole two months. It was good to see that some things never changed.

“Demyx, Larxene, don’t start fighting again,” their mother said softly, and the two immediately fell silent. “Give your cousin a chance to breath. Axel, darling, it’s wonderful to see you again. We’ve got everything waiting for you at home, but I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a while to settle in. Demyx insists that we take you to watch the Struggle finals. He wants to go straight there, but if you’d rather stop at the house to drop your stuff off first…?”

“Nah, I’m fine with waiting,” Axel grinned, picking up his previously disregarded bag and swinging it over his shoulder. “This Struggle thing sounds interesting, and I could do with a bit of excitement after that train ride. Besides, I’m going to have to share a room with Demyx, right? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“What he really means,” Larxene snickered, “is that he doesn’t want to listen to Dem whine all night.”

“Larxene, be quiet,” her father said, frowning at her. “You’d be complaining just as much if we didn’t go, and being in a different room wouldn’t stop you from making Axel miserable.” Larxene just smirked.

Axel chuckled happy to himself. He felt like he was at home already.

@-`---

When this ‘Struggle’ thing had been mentioned, Axel had assumed it would be something mostly harmless. Wrestling, maybe, or whacking each other with blunt objects, and then those would probably be out of some relatively soft substance. Nothing that anyone could possibly kill anyone else with. And definitely not with swords.

But there they were up on the stage, fighting their hearts out. One of them looked fifteen or sixteen, with spiky brown hair and a childish grin on his face as he and his foe circled each other. His sword was oddly shaped—more round than sharp and ending with protrusions that made it look like an overlarge key. The other guy—taller by at least half a foot and probably older than Axel—had long, dark hair and what seemed to be a perfectly ordinary sword until there was a sound like gunshot, and the shorter boy did a rather spectacular spin in midair that seemed to make him jump the slightest bit higher. A gunblade? Axel was impressed.

“GO SORA!” Demyx screamed happily from beside him. “He’s the short one,” he then informed Axel much more calmly. “Sora’s got this awesome ability to dodge, you’d be really surprised at the type of shit he can do, and he’s a lot stronger than he looks. He’s won the Struggle for the past few years, though that may be mostly because Roxas and Riku haven’t been participating due to academic stuff. But they’re both in it this year. I guess they must be fighting each other, which would be an awesome fight to watch.”

“You already missed it,” a quiet voice interrupted, bringing Axel’s attention to someone on the other side of Demyx, whose dark hair hid one eye from view. “Roxas won.”

“Zexy!” Demyx squealed and pulled him into a tight hug. “This is my cousin Axel!” He flailed more than pointed at the bemused redhead. “Axel, this is my best friend Zexion.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Zexion said pleasantly, bowing politely. There was the barest of smiles on his face, and Axel might have been insulted by the lack of enthusiasm if he hadn’t gotten the feeling that this was perfectly normal for the boy. Axel bowed in return, grinning widely, and then pulled the other into a very brief one-armed hug.

“Pleasure’s all mine!” he exclaimed, smirking at the wide-eyed look on Zexion’s face and Demyx’ jealous glare. One-sided unplatonic affection, then? That was going to be fun.

“So, tell me more about this Sora kid,” Axel changed the subject swiftly, and Demyx immediately perked up. “He looks like he’s about twelve. I wouldn’t think his mother would let him participate.”

“Oh, he’s seventeen,” Demyx began immediately, “and his parents let him and Roxas do pretty much whatever they want since they’re such good kids.” Demyx’ expression turned dark. “The only thing they’ve ever had trouble with is dating. Their parents have to approve of their intended first, but their father is…. Well, Roxas doesn’t get along with him at all. He…wanted me at one point. But nothing ever came of that. His father wouldn’t let him.”

“Why not?” Axel asked curiously. For a moment, there was no reply. Then:

“Their father’s homophobic,” Zexion supplied softly.

“Threatened to kick him out of the house,” Demyx continued with a sigh. “And he needed to stay there. His mother was sick, he couldn’t leave her. And I wouldn’t have been worth that anyway. As much as I like Roxas…he was never who I really wanted. And then Sora got involved with Kairi, and the whole thing blew over. But Roxas withdrew. He still hangs out with everyone and all, but the only one he’s really close to is Sora. Guess he doesn’t want to risk it again. Sometimes I really miss him.”

“That sucks, man,” Axel murmured softly, staring into space. “Guess nothing’s perfect, though.” Axel’s eyes wandered back to the stage, but he didn’t focus on the combatants. His mind was miles away, on people that only knew he existed when they needed something. On the first person to really show any particular interest on him. On the last words his first boyfriend had ever said to him. He hadn’t ever been worth anyone’s time….

A hand on his elbow knocked him back to the present. Demyx looked concerned, apologetic about the topic, but people around them were cheering. The battle was over, and Sora had won. Axel grinned and joined in the minor celebration, refusing to let his other life get the better of him. This was his new beginning, and he intended to make the most of it.

A short, round man was getting up on the stage, motioning for the crowd to calm itself. People quieted in groups, until there was little more than the sounds of teenage girls squealing over the gunblade-wielder as he walked over to a group of what must have been his friends.

“There will be a short break while Sora rests for the final battle!” the man announced, grinning at the disappointed noises half the crowd made. “But when the Struggle resumes, you will witness a battle the likes of which Twilight Town has never before seen, for Sora will be fighting none other than his twin brother, Roxas!” A loud cheer went up from the crowd, Demyx fairly beside himself with excitement. “You have fifteen minutes to get ready for the next match! Don’t go too far!” The man walked promptly off stage and headed into a nearby alley. Sora and Roxas must have been waiting back there.

“I’ll go get us something to drink,” Zexion offered quietly, and disappeared almost before Axel had realized he’d spoken.

“This is going to be amazing!” Demyx gushed, latching onto Axel and trying to shake his arm off. “Roxas uses two keyblades, and I’ve heard people swear it’s like art in motion when he fights. He and Sora have been training together since forever and they’re pretty much evenly matched; this is going to be fucking great. Aren’t you glad you’re here?”

“It is pretty damn exciting,” Axel agreed, but couldn’t quite dredge up the enthusiasm his cousin had. The train ride had been entirely too tiring for him—he was more the action type, and there hadn’t been much to do on his way over. “I’ve never heard of keyblades though. What are they?”

“That’s a mystery, really,” Demyx admitted with a half a grin. “You see, they used to use perfectly ordinary swords—not just Sora and Roxas, but Riku and Kairi as well. But when Sora and Roxas turned fifteen, some strange man claiming to be royalty showed up with five blades, and just handed them out and left. Nobody’s seem him since then, but those four refuse to fight with anything else.”

“Sounds like a fairy tale,” Axel commented, impressed despite himself. He wished he’d been approached by a king. But he’d gotten a man with a strange scar and the most frightening eyes he’d ever seen. And up until now, he’d thought his gift had been unique. “Sounds like my fairy tale.”

“What?” Demyx asked curiously, but the round man returned at that moment, and the crowd quieted almost instantly.

“Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” The excitement in the air was nearly palpable. “Once this battle is over, we will finally know who the true champion is! Will it be our hero of the past three years, the first person to ever have a winning streak this spectacular, the one and only Sora?” The short brunet from before walked up onto the stage, back to Axel, and waved as the crowd erupted in cheers. “Or will it be his mysterious brother, the only dualwielder our humble town has to offer, the amazing Roxas?” As the other boy strutted onto the stage, Axel stopped paying attention to the announcer and simply stared.

He couldn’t explain it, but the new boy simply took his breath away. He was the same height as Sora, had the same facial structure, and that was where the similarities ended. Roxas’ messy hair was a dirty blond, and his large blue eyes were colder than ice. His two weapons were as different from each other as they were from Sora’s: the white one in his left hand was more elegantly made, but the long black one in his right hand looked deadly. His expression didn’t change as he acknowledged the crowd, stepping forward single-mindedly, like a determined man who would never back down from his mission—

_“Your mind’s made up?” he asked, trying to keep his cool, to act like it all mattered as little to him as it obviously did to the boy who had stopped only at the sound of his voice._

_“Why did the keyblade choose me? I have to know.”_

_“You can’t turn your back on the Organization!” Axel snapped, unable to keep his anger and fear in when he was about to lose the only thing he’d ever cared about. He had to get Roxas to understand, to stay until everything was finally complete. “Get on their bad side, and they’ll destroy you!”_

_Roxas didn’t turn around, but he tilted his head as if to look at Axel out of the corner of his eye. “No one would miss me.” Cold but for the slightest hint of exasperation, like his impending death meant nothing, and he disappeared silently into the hungry shadows._

_“That’s not true!” the redhead hissed into the empty spot where his friend had once been, utterly defeated, and somehow it hurt so fucking bad, like he’d been torn apart, and it wasn’t supposed to be like this, there shouldn’t have been anything at all. “I would.” He was slumped over and wondering how much worse the parting would have been if only he’d had a—_

“Here,” Zexion’s quiet voice kicked him out of his trance as a plastic cup was shoved into his hand. The boy’s single visible eye looked up at him in concern. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” Axel responded shakily and gulped down half of his lukewarm fruit punch. What the fuck had that been? “I just—”

“Want to jump Roxas!” Larxene interrupted, cackling gleefully as Axel choked on the next sip of his drink. He’d forgotten she was there. “You haven’t taken your eyes off him since he got on stage. Axel and Roxas sitting in a tree, K-I-S—”

Axel punched her in the arm, figuring that she didn’t really count as a girl since she was his cousin. But he didn’t take his eyes off Roxas, whose skills really were amazing…and oddly familiar. He’d never seen this boy in his life, but he knew those moves as well as he knew his own.

“Axel?” Demyx asked softly, poking the redhead harshly in the side. Axel tore his gaze from the fight, and was thrown off by Demyx’ severe expression. “I’m going to introduce you to Roxas, because he’s my friend and I’m not going to attempt to keep you from meeting. I’m not that stupid. But don’t you dare forget what I told you.”

“I won’t force him into anything.” Axel tried to grin reassuringly, which was more difficult when faced with a protective Demyx than he’d like to admit. “And I’ll keep my hormones in check. But you can’t blame me for being attracted. Especially with the way he fights.” He turned his eyes back to the stage just as Roxas knocked Sora’s weapon out of his hand. “I’d like to fight him, though I get the feeling he would kick my ass.”

“Still playing with your Frisbees?” Larxene questioned innocently.

“They’re chakrams!” Axel snarled, a bit touchy about his choice of weaponry. He watched curiously as Sora tried desperately to reach his blade. “And they’re at least better than your puny throwing knives.”

Larxene’s undoubtedly sharp reply was cut off as the crowd erupted again. Roxas’ black sword was pointed at Sora’s face, his other one holding Sora’s weapon against the floor. He’d won. Axel cheered and chanted Roxas’ name along with everyone else, trying to ignore Demyx bouncing next to him.

Roxas moved to help his brother up, hardly looking at the crowd. But Demyx’ enthusiasm must’ve caught his attention, because his eyes swept over to them and he smiled gently. Then he had to have noticed Axel’s fiery hair, and blue eyes widened as they caught his. There was a spark of familiarity between them as time seemed to grind to a halt, and Axel could have sworn that the other had mouthed his fucking name—

Spiky brown hair cut the moment short as Roxas’ brother pulled him into a congratulatory hug before the announcer handed Roxas the Struggle trophy and Sora pulled him away.

“Mom, mom, I have to take Axel with me to congratulate Roxas!” Demyx squealed, latching onto his mother’s arm rather like a human leech. “He wants to see the Keyblades, and I have to introduce them, and I swear we’ll be back in time to eat! Please, mom, please?”

“God, are you five?” Larxene asked snottily, and Demyx threw a punch at her that she dodged. Axel sort of wanted to punch her again too, but decided it would seem too much like taking sides between them.

“I’ll drag Demyx away by his mullet if I get tired or something,” Axel offered helpfully, hoping to get a chance to meet the boy and maybe ask if it had really been his name he’d mouthed.

“Okay,” Demyx’ mother consented, smiling. “But no more than a half hour.”

“Yeah, and if you’re not back on time, I’ll come after you!” Larxene smirked.

“Thanks, mom!” Demyx gave his mother a peck on the cheek and grabbed hold of Axel’s arm as he rushed off. Zexion followed like a shadow behind them, especially hard to notice in the dark alley. It wasn’t a long walk before they were pushing through a ratty curtain to be greeted by the bemused stares of several teenagers.

“Hey, everyone!” Demyx greeted cheerfully, not even stopping before he launched himself at Roxas. “This is my cousin—”

“The name’s Axel,” Axel interrupted, surprising himself. “A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?” He hadn’t meant to say anything, but Roxas was staring at him and he felt like he needed to make some sort of an impression despite the blond’s expressionless face.

“Yeah,” Roxas said coldly, in a voice that was almost drowned out by the chorus of greetings from everyone else, especially Sora’s overenthusiastic hello before the boy introduced everyone. Axel had a hard time paying attention to anything but the way Roxas avoided direct eye contact, but he caught the names and chattered amicably for a few minutes before deciding that he needed five minutes to gather his thoughts and nudged Demyx in the side.

“I’m going to get out of here for a minute to smoke.” He watched amusedly as his cousin wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Hey, it’s your fault I didn’t finish my other one.”

“Sorry,” Demyx responded, not sounding like he meant it at all, and Axel chuckled as he walked off.

He lit up as soon as he stepped outside, breathing in the nicotine deeply as he stared up at the sky. What the hell was he doing? It wasn’t like him to become interested in someone the second he met them, not any more. And the boy was obviously not interested in him at all, probably thought Axel was creepy or something. He’d just been imagining everything—the connection, the scene from his trance, the way Roxas had looked as if he knew him already—

“Axel.”

The redhead nearly jumped out of his skin at the soft voice, and almost burnt himself saving his cigarette. Maybe this was a sign that he should try to quit again. If he couldn’t do it on his own, people would probably keep startling him until he lost all his cigarettes anyway.

“Yo,” Axel muttered, looking up at the master of avoidance and shoving down a sudden fierce urge to shake the boy until he looked up. “Glad you remembered me.”

“Shut up,” Roxas said shortly, glancing up at him for a brief moment in irritation. Axel’s eyebrows shot to his hairline.

“Are you always this rude, or are you making a special effort just for me?”

“Shut up,” Roxas said again, and then sighed. “No. I’m not always this rude. I wanted to talk to you.”

“Really?” Axel asked, perking up. Maybe he hadn’t been imaging anything after all, not if Roxas was interested in him.

“Yeah. This is going to sound kind of insane, but…” Axel marveled at how Roxas could manage to look so apathetic when he was obviously nervous and confused. “When I looked at you after I beat Sora, I…saw you.”

“Well, that is generally what happens when you look at someone,” Axel couldn’t resist saying, smirking cockily.

“That isn’t wha—” Roxas began, but cut himself off with a slight snarl. “Forget it. It’s stupid anyway.” And he turned to walk away.

“Wait!” Axel yelped, stepping forward and grabbing Roxas’ arm. He was too intent on the boy before him to care much when his cigarette fell to the ground, heart pumping inexplicably at the idea of him walking away. “It’s not stupid. I know what you meant. Tell me what you saw.”

“Get off of me.” The blond tried to pull his arm away, but Axel’s grip was too tight.

“No. Listen, kid, I saw you too.” Axel was rather surprised with his own confession. If it had been anyone else, he would have made them talk first, but Roxas was already different somehow. “We were surrounded by skyscrapers, right, and it was the middle of the night and you were leaving. I don’t know where you were going, but you said something about needing to know why the Keyblade chose you. And I told you that some Organization would destroy you for getting on their bad side, and you said that nobody would miss you before you walked away. And I—”

There was a moment’s pause before Roxas turned to face him and moved a step closer. There was a gentle sadness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before, and Axel was captivated. “You what?” he asked softly.

“I would,” Axel whispered, unconsciously pulling Roxas closer to himself. “That’s what I said. That I would miss you. And it hurt so much…”

“In my vision,” Roxas began shakily, "we were fighting. There was fire everywhere, and I think we were actually trying to kill each other. And I must have won eventually, because you were slumped over as if you couldn’t even lift your weapons, and there was darkness swirling at your feet. For a moment, we just stood there, before I said—”

“You said my name,” Axel breathed in a sudden burst of clarity.

“Yeah. And for some reason, my heart was twisting painfully, and it hurt so much to know that I had done that to you. Then Sora jumped on me, and all I saw was you…and the fact that you were looking at me made me happier than I could remember being in ages.”

“What the hell is this?” Axel questioned softly, and was surprised to find that he had one arm around the shorter boy’s waist, and the other hand was caressing his face. He ran a thumb across Roxas’ lower lip, eliciting a soft gasp from him, and pulled the blond closer. Something in him was demanding that he initiate a kiss, something that he was powerless to deny. Especially when he felt Roxas’ hands in his hair and the blond was pushing himself tantalizingly closer. Their lips were almost touching, Axel tightening his grip as he felt his heart racing in nervous excitement, and Roxas’ eyes had closed—

“Axel!”

He and Roxas jumped away from each other guiltily, both breathing heavily and staring at each other uncertainly. Demyx came running out of the little room and nearly leapt at Axel, effectively destroying the moment as he tried to pull the redhead’s arm off. Roxas smiled rather shakily at them, and Axel tried to decided whether or not he wanted to rip Demyx’ mullet out hair by hair.

“Will I be seeing you in school?” Roxas asked softly, and Demyx actually stopped yanking to stare at him.

“Sure, kid,” Axel grinned, and raised his hand in a salute. “I’ll hunt you down if I have to.”

“You won’t have to.” Roxas walked away, waving casually back at them over his shoulder.

“That was rather odd,” Zexion said, and Axel jumped at the unexpected sound of his voice. “I didn’t think Roxas would warm up to someone new so quickly.”

“What can I say?” Axel smirked, starting to walk in a random direction. “I can’t help it if I’m so irresistible.”

“Don’t you dare do anything to him he doesn’t want, Axel,” Demyx warned him, but it wasn’t nearly as threatening as it had been earlier.

“I haven’t and I won’t,” Axel returned sincerely. “But don’t expect me to hide anything form him. I’m not going to jump him, but I do plan on getting to know him better.” And if he meant that in two different ways, well, it couldn’t really be helped.


End file.
